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Ode #2 to The Raggies

Kenneth DiMaggio

Take a left by the old quarry but before
you get to the wreck of an old ’56 or ’57
Ford you go down a dried-up creek bed littered
with old bottle caps and Buffalo nickels and that’s
how you’ll find Merle and probably tinkering on
some Chevy hoisted nose-up on the limb
of a Weeping Willow while exchanging
wisdoms or fooleries with Burt and Stanley
sitting on wooden soda crates

Because Merle (which he says is short
for Merlin) makes magic on cars that
could never pass inspection (and whose owners
can only afford a sawbuck or two a week
to this understanding and unlicensed mechanic)

Un-Licensable ever since the law
caught up with him a half century ago

understanding because as White
Trash or as we say in these hill & valley
mill towns in Connecticut: “Raggies”
—being neighborly is how you survive in
a land where the government is out
to get you even when you’re innocent

Just remember to turn before
the ’56 or ’57 Ford but even if
you’re not going down that road

just know that someday
you might need the magic of folks
who live outside the law

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